Chris Huhne is innocent
2 hours ago
Friday, 31 December 2010
What is the BBC playing at wheeling out loony Christians for comment on the News at Six
Mouse is writing this on his phone, so apologies for the lack of links.
Twitter has been buzzing with Christians dismayed that the BBC allowed Stephen Green of Christian Voice to comment on the Elton John surragacy story in the flagship news at six. The problem is that Green is an embarrassment for most Christians, and very much part of a tiny hardcore in the hard Christian right wing, so hardly a man to present a mainstream Christian perspective.
Green shot to fame campaigning against Jerry Springer the Opera, and took BBC Director General to court seeking a private prosecution for blasphemy over the issue. He lost and had massive costs awarded against him.
He also featured in a Dispatches program about the religious right.
Bartholomew's Notes and MediaWatchWatch have extensive coverage of Green's views, including his endorsement of Uganda's proposed law to enforce execution as punishment for homosexuality.
So surely the BBC know about this man.
What on earth were they playing at?
Mouse was less surprised to the Express quoting him as "outraged" by the BBC's Nativity, universally adored by by Christian bloggers and tweeters. He managed to take offence at it before it had been broadcast. Mouse expects the BBC to have rather higher standards than The Express, however.
It is interesting that some have described this as anti-gay by the BBC, and others as anti-Christian. Mouse reckons it was actually just a very bad editorial decision born of ignorance of Christianity.
Links:
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2010/12/29/exclusive-why-did-bbc-call-on-christian-who-supports-execution-of-gays-to-comment-on-sir-eltons-baby/
http://barthsnotes.wordpress.com/2009/12/22/stephen-green-calls-for-gays-and-adulterers-to-be-executed/
http://www.mediawatchwatch.org.uk/?s=green
http://www.christianvoice.org.uk/
Thursday, 30 December 2010
Predictions for 2011
Mouse offered up some predictions for 2010 which turned out pretty well, so here are some predictions for 2011:
1. The Anglican Communion will not implode during 2011
2. The dioceses will return the legislation on women bishops to General Synod for final ratification without incident
3. Membership of the Ordinariate will initially be lower than most people are currently predicting, particularly amongst laity
4. Rev will return for a triumphant second series
5. The Coalition will get round to initiating some constitutional reform involving the established Church during the year
Once again, Mouse has varying degrees of confidence in these predictions, and he'll come back to see how he did at the end of the year.
1. The Anglican Communion will not implode during 2011
2. The dioceses will return the legislation on women bishops to General Synod for final ratification without incident
3. Membership of the Ordinariate will initially be lower than most people are currently predicting, particularly amongst laity
4. Rev will return for a triumphant second series
5. The Coalition will get round to initiating some constitutional reform involving the established Church during the year
Once again, Mouse has varying degrees of confidence in these predictions, and he'll come back to see how he did at the end of the year.
Wednesday, 29 December 2010
Something new in the sidebar
Those of you who actually visit the Church Mouse blog, rather than read it via Facebook, RSS feed or something else, may have spotted something new in the sidebar. Mouse has added a link to the TwurchCast. This is an occasional podcast which has developed around the Twurch of England. You can either pick up the podcast feed directly, or subscribe via iTunes.
Rev'd Peter Ould is behind the podcasts, which are chats and interviews with lots of interesting people, sometimes including Mouse. They are becoming rather good, and Mouse would like to promote.
Rev'd Peter Ould is behind the podcasts, which are chats and interviews with lots of interesting people, sometimes including Mouse. They are becoming rather good, and Mouse would like to promote.
Mandatory worship in schools - an alternative
Since 1944 the law has required that all state schools conduct a daily act of "broadly Christian" worship, during which all pupils participate. This has proved increasingly controversial, and is now the subject of a more concerted campaign from secularists, who are seeking to abolish the requirement.
Mouse reckons they have a point.
The National Secular Society have long made the bogus claim that this requirement is a breach of children's human rights, and recently both the British Humanist Association and the National Secular Society have written to Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, asking him to abolish the requirement.
It seems that the Church of England is going to oppose any change, on the basis that this act of worship is a learning experience for the children, most of whom will not experience worship in any other context. Back in 2006, when the previous government was looking at reform of this law, the CofE published a paper setting out it's "strong support" for the law as it is and opposing change.
They make some important points, which put some context around the current requirement. For example, the requirement is for worship "wholly or mainly" Christian in nature, which does mean that other faiths could get a look in for up to half of the worship experience, allowing pupils to experience a diversity of religious beliefs. However, Mouse can only imagine the outcry in the Daily Mail if schools started imposing mandatory Islamic prayer in schools. This does not seem particularly realistic.
They also point out that faith schools are exempt from this requirement and conduct their worship in line with their faith ethos. This actually takes out quite a large chunk of schools altogether.
Nevertheless there are some real problems with this requirement, both in principle and in practice.
Starting with the practical point, the main issue here is that most schools simply cannot organise this, and so don't. It is ignored by the majority of schools. Since the days of whole school daily assemblies ended for most schools some years ago, it is harder to organise. So most don't bother. The CofE paper stated that most primary schools complied with the requirement, but only 25% of secondary schools comply fully.
And this is nothing new. Back in 1996 the then Education Secretary, Chris Patten, faced exactly the same problem, and told schools to comply when an estimated 85% of Local Education Authorities failed to enforce the requirement.
When we come to principle it is rather harder.
It is pretty difficult to get away from the issue that compelling children to take part in religious worship. It simply can't be right for the state to mandate religion.
Mouse has no doubt that the CofE is right about the educational, spiritual and other benefits of engaging young people in worship, but the question for Mouse is whether this should be mandatory.
So what would be the best way forward? Mouse reckons that the law should be changed to end the mandatory worship requirement. Instead, schools should be required to allow faith organisations in to establish voluntary clubs.
At the moment, despite the legal requirement to hold Christian worship, many school heads are strongly opposed to allowing the local church in to conduct assemblies or organise voluntary clubs, denying childern a pretty basic opportunity to explore issues of faith for themselves. This means that schools become a hostile environment for religious belief, where children grow up with virtually no knowledge or experience of religion. This is not just poor education, but is also dangerous for community relations and a wider understanding of the world.
This would, of course, push the onus onto the churches to fill the void, but that should be a challenge we can relish and rise to, rather than bemoan the lack of state enforced religion in schools.
Mouse reckons they have a point.
The National Secular Society have long made the bogus claim that this requirement is a breach of children's human rights, and recently both the British Humanist Association and the National Secular Society have written to Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, asking him to abolish the requirement.
It seems that the Church of England is going to oppose any change, on the basis that this act of worship is a learning experience for the children, most of whom will not experience worship in any other context. Back in 2006, when the previous government was looking at reform of this law, the CofE published a paper setting out it's "strong support" for the law as it is and opposing change.
They make some important points, which put some context around the current requirement. For example, the requirement is for worship "wholly or mainly" Christian in nature, which does mean that other faiths could get a look in for up to half of the worship experience, allowing pupils to experience a diversity of religious beliefs. However, Mouse can only imagine the outcry in the Daily Mail if schools started imposing mandatory Islamic prayer in schools. This does not seem particularly realistic.
They also point out that faith schools are exempt from this requirement and conduct their worship in line with their faith ethos. This actually takes out quite a large chunk of schools altogether.
Nevertheless there are some real problems with this requirement, both in principle and in practice.
Starting with the practical point, the main issue here is that most schools simply cannot organise this, and so don't. It is ignored by the majority of schools. Since the days of whole school daily assemblies ended for most schools some years ago, it is harder to organise. So most don't bother. The CofE paper stated that most primary schools complied with the requirement, but only 25% of secondary schools comply fully.
And this is nothing new. Back in 1996 the then Education Secretary, Chris Patten, faced exactly the same problem, and told schools to comply when an estimated 85% of Local Education Authorities failed to enforce the requirement.
When we come to principle it is rather harder.
It is pretty difficult to get away from the issue that compelling children to take part in religious worship. It simply can't be right for the state to mandate religion.
Mouse has no doubt that the CofE is right about the educational, spiritual and other benefits of engaging young people in worship, but the question for Mouse is whether this should be mandatory.
So what would be the best way forward? Mouse reckons that the law should be changed to end the mandatory worship requirement. Instead, schools should be required to allow faith organisations in to establish voluntary clubs.
At the moment, despite the legal requirement to hold Christian worship, many school heads are strongly opposed to allowing the local church in to conduct assemblies or organise voluntary clubs, denying childern a pretty basic opportunity to explore issues of faith for themselves. This means that schools become a hostile environment for religious belief, where children grow up with virtually no knowledge or experience of religion. This is not just poor education, but is also dangerous for community relations and a wider understanding of the world.
This would, of course, push the onus onto the churches to fill the void, but that should be a challenge we can relish and rise to, rather than bemoan the lack of state enforced religion in schools.
Tuesday, 28 December 2010
Mouse's top 20 blog posts of the year
By way of rounding off the year, Mouse thought that one or two of his readers would be interested to see what his most popular posts of the year have been, based purely on Google Analytics stats of the number of hist to the post. This does, of course, mean they are probably not the most 'popular' in any meaningful way but they definitely are the ones which had the most hits according to Google Analytics. So here you go.
1. Benita Hewitt from Christian Research announcing that Church attendance is no longer in decline
2. Mouse's take on the Bishop Pete Broadbent Facebook / Royal Wedding affair
3. The proof of God's existence which came when a council leader banned prayers from council meetings, then was humiliated three days later when his trousers fell down in public
4. Mouse's review of Red'd Peter Owen-Jones' BBC show The Simple Life
5. News of the 50 clergy to join the Ordinariate
6. Mouse kicked off a lively debate about whether Harvest Festival is now redundant
7. News of the radical new opinions that Stephen Hawking does not have about God and creation
8. The Jeffrey John for Southwark saga
9. The Bishop of London's new society was missed by almost everyone
10. Pete Broadbent was not suspended (and I'm sticking to this)
11. Mouse wondered whether John Broadhurst was technically inelligible to join the Ordinariate
12. Mouse was first on the web with the press release on Pete Broadbent
13. Mouse re-posted comments from Pete Broadbent on women Bishops, as he was a member of the Revision Committee which drew up the legislation
14. Janina Ainsworth, the CofE's Chief Education Officer responded on this blog to Richard Dawkins' faith school attack documentary
15. Mouse asked his readers not to join a society
16. A decent attempt to get a Christian song to No. 1 for Easter
17. Mouse reckoned two bishops were unwise to back a legal case involving Christian guest-house owners
18. News of the madness at Gloucester Cathedral over CBR checks
19. Public perceptions of women bishops from outside the church made interesting reading
20. Mouse reckoned the anti-Pope protests were falling apart (ahead of the really big protest march which had far more participants than Mouse imagined)
1. Benita Hewitt from Christian Research announcing that Church attendance is no longer in decline
2. Mouse's take on the Bishop Pete Broadbent Facebook / Royal Wedding affair
3. The proof of God's existence which came when a council leader banned prayers from council meetings, then was humiliated three days later when his trousers fell down in public
4. Mouse's review of Red'd Peter Owen-Jones' BBC show The Simple Life
5. News of the 50 clergy to join the Ordinariate
6. Mouse kicked off a lively debate about whether Harvest Festival is now redundant
7. News of the radical new opinions that Stephen Hawking does not have about God and creation
8. The Jeffrey John for Southwark saga
9. The Bishop of London's new society was missed by almost everyone
10. Pete Broadbent was not suspended (and I'm sticking to this)
11. Mouse wondered whether John Broadhurst was technically inelligible to join the Ordinariate
12. Mouse was first on the web with the press release on Pete Broadbent
13. Mouse re-posted comments from Pete Broadbent on women Bishops, as he was a member of the Revision Committee which drew up the legislation
14. Janina Ainsworth, the CofE's Chief Education Officer responded on this blog to Richard Dawkins' faith school attack documentary
15. Mouse asked his readers not to join a society
16. A decent attempt to get a Christian song to No. 1 for Easter
17. Mouse reckoned two bishops were unwise to back a legal case involving Christian guest-house owners
18. News of the madness at Gloucester Cathedral over CBR checks
19. Public perceptions of women bishops from outside the church made interesting reading
20. Mouse reckoned the anti-Pope protests were falling apart (ahead of the really big protest march which had far more participants than Mouse imagined)
Monday, 27 December 2010
20 Blogs to watch in 2010
Mouse often gets asked which blogs he reads. The long answer to that is that he follows a huge number of blogs to make sure his ear is close to the ground.
However, there are a few which he particularly enjoys reading, so he thought it would be worthwhile to show a bit of support for some of the religious bloggers who he is been particularly thankful for during 2010, and looks forward to reading more from in 2011.
This list is far from exhaustive, so apologies to anyone left off. Here are 20 blogs which Mouse couldn't do without in his RSS reader in alphabetical order (and before anyone points it out, Mouse is aware of the massive gender imbalance in the authors of these blogs):
1. Archbishop Cranmer
2. Bishop Alan Wilson
3. Bishop Nick Baines
4. BRIN News
5. Clayboy
6. eChurch Christian blog
7. FaithWorld
8. Heresy Corner
9. Kouya Chronicle
10. Lesley Fellows
11. Maggi Dawn
12. New Humanist blog
13. Phil's Treehouse
14. Quaerentia
15. Tall Skinny Kiwi
16. The Cartoon Church blog
17. The Church Sofa
18. The Vernacular Curate
19. Thinking Anglicans
20. Vic the Vicar
However, there are a few which he particularly enjoys reading, so he thought it would be worthwhile to show a bit of support for some of the religious bloggers who he is been particularly thankful for during 2010, and looks forward to reading more from in 2011.
This list is far from exhaustive, so apologies to anyone left off. Here are 20 blogs which Mouse couldn't do without in his RSS reader in alphabetical order (and before anyone points it out, Mouse is aware of the massive gender imbalance in the authors of these blogs):
1. Archbishop Cranmer
2. Bishop Alan Wilson
3. Bishop Nick Baines
4. BRIN News
5. Clayboy
6. eChurch Christian blog
7. FaithWorld
8. Heresy Corner
9. Kouya Chronicle
10. Lesley Fellows
11. Maggi Dawn
12. New Humanist blog
13. Phil's Treehouse
14. Quaerentia
15. Tall Skinny Kiwi
16. The Cartoon Church blog
17. The Church Sofa
18. The Vernacular Curate
19. Thinking Anglicans
20. Vic the Vicar
Friday, 24 December 2010
Storm in a breakfast tea cup - Pope on Thought For The Day
So the Papal two and a half minutes slot came and went. You can listen again over at the BBC. He offered up some nice thoughts for Christmas, and talked with fondness about his time in Britain. It was positive and upbeat, just as Mouse requested, and he told us that he is praying for us all, which is nice.Mouse has copied the full text below (with a wordle, just for fun).
What was most striking for Mouse was the tone of the debate that surrounded this event. Keith Porteous-Wood from the National Secular Society, who had been up in arms that the Pope should not go "unchallenged", was given his chance before the Pope actually spoke. He made himself a bit of a laughing stock by saying he didn't have a problem with the message, and accusing the Pontiff of pontificating. Christine Odone from the Catholic Herald and Polly Toynbee from the British Humanist Association had a bizarre debate, with Odone claiming Christians are persecuted and Toynbee claiming we are living in a theocracy, what with bishops in the Lords 'n all.
It seems to Mouse that the only one who was talking any sense through all this was Pope Benedict.
Which is just fine, really.
Recalling with great fondness my four-day visit to the United Kingdom last September, I am glad to have the opportunity to greet you once again, and indeed to greet listeners everywhere as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ. Our thoughts turn back to a moment in history when God's chosen people, the children of Israel, were living in intense expectation. They were waiting for the Messiah that God had promised to send, and they pictured him as a great leader who would rescue them from foreign domination and restore their freedom.
God is always faithful to his promises, but he often surprises us in the way he fulfils them. The child that was born in Bethlehem did indeed bring liberation, but not only for the people of that time and place - he was to be the Saviour of all people throughout the world and throughout history. And it was not a political liberation that he brought, achieved through military means: rather, Christ destroyed death for ever and restored life by means of his shameful death on the Cross. And while he was born in poverty and obscurity, far from the centres of earthly power, he was none other than the Son of God. Out of love for us he took upon himself our human condition, our fragility, our vulnerability, and he opened up for us the path that leads to the fullness of life, to a share in the life of God himself. As we ponder this great mystery in our hearts this Christmas, let us give thanks to God for his goodness to us, and let us joyfully proclaim to those around us the good news that God offers us freedom from whatever weighs us down: he gives us hope, he brings us life.
Dear Friends from Scotland, England, Wales and indeed every part of the English-speaking world, I want you to know that I keep all of you very much in my prayers during this Holy Season. I pray for your families, for your children, for those who are sick, and for those who are going through any form of hardship at this time. I pray especially for the elderly and for those who are approaching the end of their days. I ask Christ, the light of the nations, to dispel whatever darkness there may be in your lives and to grant to every one of you the grace of a peaceful joyful Christmas.
May God bless all of you!
Thursday, 23 December 2010
The Pope to do Thought For The Day on Radio 4
The two minute religious slot on Radio 4's Today program has been the focus of much debate over the past year or so. Some have argued that it should not be reserved exclusively for religious voices, whilst the BBC Trust looked hard at it and decided that it's religious character was what made it distinctive, and so should remain in tact.
When the Papal visit was announced, there was speculation that he would pop by the BBC studios and record a slot, but that did not turn out to be the case.
However, the BBC have now announced that the dialogue with the Vatican continued and that he has now recorded a slot to be broadcast tomorrow morning, on Christmas Eve.
The BBC are claiming some kind of first, that the Pope has not done a radio slot of this kind before, although Mouse can't believe he hasn't appeared on the radio before, so this must be a bit of a technicality.
Nevertheless, it is a coup of pretty big proportions.
The National Secular Society are livid that the Pope should be allowed to speak for a full two minutes without being "challenged", making themselves a bit of a joke in the process. If the spiritual leader of a billion people is not allowed to speak for two minutes without being interrupted by whatever loonie has a fight to pick with him we really are in trouble.
The question for Mouse is what he will choose to say. Mouse hopes it is a positive message, declaring God's love for all, rather than attacking secular forces who are trying to steal Christmas, but we'll just have to wait and see.
When the Papal visit was announced, there was speculation that he would pop by the BBC studios and record a slot, but that did not turn out to be the case.
However, the BBC have now announced that the dialogue with the Vatican continued and that he has now recorded a slot to be broadcast tomorrow morning, on Christmas Eve.
The BBC are claiming some kind of first, that the Pope has not done a radio slot of this kind before, although Mouse can't believe he hasn't appeared on the radio before, so this must be a bit of a technicality.
Nevertheless, it is a coup of pretty big proportions.
The National Secular Society are livid that the Pope should be allowed to speak for a full two minutes without being "challenged", making themselves a bit of a joke in the process. If the spiritual leader of a billion people is not allowed to speak for two minutes without being interrupted by whatever loonie has a fight to pick with him we really are in trouble.
The question for Mouse is what he will choose to say. Mouse hopes it is a positive message, declaring God's love for all, rather than attacking secular forces who are trying to steal Christmas, but we'll just have to wait and see.
The nations favourite Christmas Carols
A YouGov poll has revealed the nations favourite carols. 1162 people were asked which carol, if any, was their favourite from a list of 20. The top five were:
1. Silent Night (20%)
2. Come All Ye Faithful (10%)
3. Away in a Manger (6%)
4. Once in Royal David's City (5%)
5. Little Town of Bethlehem (5%)
Mouse is astonished that Hark the Herald Angles Sing came as low as 6th with just 4% of the vote, but Mouse has been informed that there is no accounting for taste.
It is only fair to warn those of you responsible for organising carol services that four carols registered less than 0.5%, so it seems that you should steer clear of Carol of the Bells, Christians Awake Salute the Happy Morn, Good Christian Men Rejoice and The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came.
A miserable 10% responded that they did not like any Christmas carols. You could read, therefore, that 90% do like carols, however, Mouse would warn that this isn't really a fair question to make that assertion.
H/T BRIN, who have their usual forensic analysis of the stats.
1. Silent Night (20%)
2. Come All Ye Faithful (10%)
3. Away in a Manger (6%)
4. Once in Royal David's City (5%)
5. Little Town of Bethlehem (5%)
Mouse is astonished that Hark the Herald Angles Sing came as low as 6th with just 4% of the vote, but Mouse has been informed that there is no accounting for taste.
It is only fair to warn those of you responsible for organising carol services that four carols registered less than 0.5%, so it seems that you should steer clear of Carol of the Bells, Christians Awake Salute the Happy Morn, Good Christian Men Rejoice and The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came.
A miserable 10% responded that they did not like any Christmas carols. You could read, therefore, that 90% do like carols, however, Mouse would warn that this isn't really a fair question to make that assertion.
H/T BRIN, who have their usual forensic analysis of the stats.
Wednesday, 22 December 2010
Julian Assange receives honourary Raelian award
Mouse continues to stretch the boundaries of religious news with the strangest story for a while. Rael, the leader of the International Raelian Movement, which believes that life on Earth was created by alien scientists, has bestowed upon Julian Assange the title of Honourary Guide of Humanity and has compared him with Nelson Mandela.
Make what you will of this:
Make what you will of this:
Revolution has reached Internet. The people who are revolted by the superpowers' dictatorial attempt to silent those who love the truth and reveal the lies of the governments, are now taking charge following the famous 'we the people'.
This is a very good sign that young generations are not ready to be silent sheep but instead are ready to fight for the freedom of internet, the only and last free media not controlled by the superpowers and multinational companies that are willing to make the whole world population a mass of consumers and tax payers who never question them.
Like Assange who said today that he will remain true to his ideals, Rael has reaffirmed on this 37th anniversary his mission to change the world, asking the Raelians to keep the 'laughter revolution'. I hope that thousands of Raelians will attend political meetings and public speeches of their prime minister and when these politicians start to say things like 'we will build a strong nation', everybody laughs. To laugh is the best answer to stupidity.
Assange is in prison like Nelson Mendela was but I am sure he is laughing as he knows he cannot stay there a long time. Let's send him our energy so that he can keep championing the freedom of speech and embarrassing those who pretend to take care of the interest of their people.
Mouse's Christmas list
Thought I'd share the Christmas letter I wrote this year to Father Rowan (click on images for larger versions).
Tuesday, 21 December 2010
Religious trends
Mouse is a bit snowed under at the moment, in more ways than one, so doesn't have time to do justice to this, but did want to highlight the important news that Christian Research have published their seminal Religious Trends. In the past this has been a kind of compendium of religious statistics, but this year it has moved online and so becomes an interactive resource. Unfortunately this is available to subscribers only, so it will cost you £30 to get to the data.
Readers of this blog may remember that Benita Hewitt from Christian Research posted exclusively on this blog to let us know that the trend of decline in Churches in the UK seems to be over. Now we can see the full data, and the Telegraph picked up the story again over the weekend.
The resource is rich, and is much wider than just church statistics, covering demographics and the Faith Journeys initiative.
The "church in rapid decline" narrative was often based on previous Religious Trends data, so it will be interesting to see whether that public perception begins to change now that the data is pointing to something else going on.
Readers of this blog may remember that Benita Hewitt from Christian Research posted exclusively on this blog to let us know that the trend of decline in Churches in the UK seems to be over. Now we can see the full data, and the Telegraph picked up the story again over the weekend.
The resource is rich, and is much wider than just church statistics, covering demographics and the Faith Journeys initiative.
The "church in rapid decline" narrative was often based on previous Religious Trends data, so it will be interesting to see whether that public perception begins to change now that the data is pointing to something else going on.
Church Mouse Christmas message
At this time of year, Mouse would like to offer his best Christmas wishes to everyone who has read and contributed to this blog over the past year.
Readership of this blog has continued to rise at a an increasing rate, leading to Mouse being ranked the No.1 blog in Wikio's Religion and Belief category, although this does exclude two blogs who would comfortably beat Mouse due to their being counted in another category.
Mouse's blog has been hugely enhanced by a large number of fantastic guest contributers throughout the year. As Mouse looks back he is amazed that so many wonderful people have been so good as to post pieces on this blog, so many thanks to Matt Wardman, Professor Trevor Cooling, Sam Follett, Alastair Cutting, Krish Kandiah, Maria Toth, Tearfund's Super Badger, Justin Brett, Dominic Burbidge, Benita Hewitt, Paul Woolley, Anna Drew, Dr Bex Lewis, John Baxter-Brown, Tearfund's Tea Ladies, John Ralfe and Bishop Christopher Cocksworth.
Readership of this blog has continued to rise at a an increasing rate, leading to Mouse being ranked the No.1 blog in Wikio's Religion and Belief category, although this does exclude two blogs who would comfortably beat Mouse due to their being counted in another category.
Mouse's blog has been hugely enhanced by a large number of fantastic guest contributers throughout the year. As Mouse looks back he is amazed that so many wonderful people have been so good as to post pieces on this blog, so many thanks to Matt Wardman, Professor Trevor Cooling, Sam Follett, Alastair Cutting, Krish Kandiah, Maria Toth, Tearfund's Super Badger, Justin Brett, Dominic Burbidge, Benita Hewitt, Paul Woolley, Anna Drew, Dr Bex Lewis, John Baxter-Brown, Tearfund's Tea Ladies, John Ralfe and Bishop Christopher Cocksworth.
It has been a joy to engage in some great discussions with the great diversity within the Church of England. So Mouse wants to give his thanks and prayers to all Evangelicals, Conservative Evangelicals, Open Evangelicals, Liberal Evangelicals, Charismatics, Anglo-Catholics, Liberal-Catholics, Traditionalist Catholics, High Church, Low Church, Broad Church, Inclusive Church and, of course, middle of the road Anglicans. And apologies to any groupings left out.
In many ways it has been a difficult year for the Church of England, yet some good news has emerged. The announcement by Christian Research of the end of the decline in Church membership and attendance is possibly the most significant news, but also Mouse looks at the progress of the legislation on women bishops and the development of the Ordinariate as positive moves. They will be bringing unresolved issues to a resolution soon, and implement the clear wishes of Synod and the majority of bishops, clergy and laity of the Church of England. It is sad to think of faithful Christians leaving the Church of England, but it is better for them to do so with our best wishes and prayers, than to allow an internal war to continue for ever.
So we should look forward to 2011 with optimism for the future. What lies in store for the Church Mouse, well who knows.
Mouse
Monday, 20 December 2010
Introducing guest poster Matt Wardman
Matt writes:
Some time ago the Church Mouse asked me to do an "intro", related to a guest post about the Independence of Bloggers. I didn't do one then, so I thought I'd do one now that I may be contributing from time to time.
Though I write mainly about politics and related areas, I also have an interest in "religion and society", and for almost the last 3 years I have been quite heavily involved in the online campaign to scrutinise the shenanigans around the takeover of the SPCK Bookshop chain.
I contribute at various places, including at present:
And I like revealing anagrams, which say as much about the people choosing them as they do about the subject. 'Church Mouse Publishing' can be rearranged to be, depending on your mood:
Some time ago the Church Mouse asked me to do an "intro", related to a guest post about the Independence of Bloggers. I didn't do one then, so I thought I'd do one now that I may be contributing from time to time.
Though I write mainly about politics and related areas, I also have an interest in "religion and society", and for almost the last 3 years I have been quite heavily involved in the online campaign to scrutinise the shenanigans around the takeover of the SPCK Bookshop chain.
I contribute at various places, including at present:
- The Wardman Wire, my own non-partisan "group blog", which focuses (among other things) on general politics, media, law, technology and civil liberties. I'm particularly interested in knocking down the walls around the "Westminster Village". It is currently being "rebooted" after a break since the Election, to find a place in the changed political and online landscape.
- The Politalks podcast, which consists of one on one interviews with anyone I find interesting.
- Journalism.co.uk, which is a community and professional site for .. journalists.
- The Online Journalism Blog, which is a site edited by Paul Bradshaw of Birmingham City University, about all aspects of "Journalism 2.0".
- At Ekklesia.
- I have an embryonic project called "Political Mugs", a whole list of projects on Post It notes which never got off the ground, and my own consultancy site where I write about internet strategy at mattwardman.co.uk.
And I like revealing anagrams, which say as much about the people choosing them as they do about the subject. 'Church Mouse Publishing' can be rearranged to be, depending on your mood:
Cherubic Humphing SoulsThere's no end to it.
Chumps Hiring Clubhouse
Humbling Pious Churches
Lumpish Cherubic Shogun
Sunday, 19 December 2010
Mouse's 2010 predictions - how did he do?
On the second of January 2010, Mouse posted his predictions for the coming year:
So, here's how Mouse reckons he did.
1. No implosion yet, although lots of negativity all round. MOUSE WAS RIGHT.
2. There was a new government, although the extent to which they will be looking at the role of the Church within the state is not yet clear. The first foray has been to invite the churches into the Big Society. We'll see what comes next, but overall MOUSE WAS RIGHT.
3. There have been many excellent religious programs on the Beeb - from the epic History of Christianity through to the fantastic Rev, and now what looks like an excellent Nativity series. MOUSE WAS RIGHT.
4. Too early to tell, but it was encouraging that Christian Research announced the end of the decline in Church attendance. Church statistics tend to have a two year time-lag, so we won't know what happened this year for a little bit. WAIT AND SEE IF MOUSE WAS RIGHT.
5. Well not yet, but none of us know when the time will come.
More predictions will come early in the new year.
1. The Anglican Communion will not implode during 2010
2. A new government will start to look at the role of the Church within the state, and positive moves will be made to modernise the arrangements
3. Religious programming at the BBC will improve
4. Membership of the Church of England (if there is any reliable way of measuring it) will increase
5. Jesus won't return in 2010 (but he will one day)
Mouse has varying degree of confidence in these but if he remembers will see how he did at the end of the year.
So, here's how Mouse reckons he did.
1. No implosion yet, although lots of negativity all round. MOUSE WAS RIGHT.
2. There was a new government, although the extent to which they will be looking at the role of the Church within the state is not yet clear. The first foray has been to invite the churches into the Big Society. We'll see what comes next, but overall MOUSE WAS RIGHT.
3. There have been many excellent religious programs on the Beeb - from the epic History of Christianity through to the fantastic Rev, and now what looks like an excellent Nativity series. MOUSE WAS RIGHT.
4. Too early to tell, but it was encouraging that Christian Research announced the end of the decline in Church attendance. Church statistics tend to have a two year time-lag, so we won't know what happened this year for a little bit. WAIT AND SEE IF MOUSE WAS RIGHT.
5. Well not yet, but none of us know when the time will come.
More predictions will come early in the new year.
Saturday, 18 December 2010
Back to Church Sunday - lower response this year
The good old CofE put a news story on it's site this week talking about how successful Back to Church Sunday had been in welcoming back 150,000.
However, look behind the numbers and you'll see that this year was rather disappointing.
The 150,000 number is an estimate since 2004, and is certainly a good thing in itself. However the 2010 number is estimated at 51,000. This is based on the fact that 3,500 churches participated, and those who sent information in to BTCS said they averaged 18 people returning each. Now Mouse doesn't quite know how this gets you to 51,000, as a simple extrapolation would get you to 61,000, so perhaps they knocked a bit off to reflect the fact that those who bothered to send in information are probably those who most enthusiastically embraced the initiative and had most success. Either way, it still seems like a pretty optimistic estimate. We're not told what proportion of the 3,500 sent in returns, so it's hard to tell what degree of confidence we can have in the estimate.
However, when we compare with last year's estimates, we see that the Back to Church people reckoned that 83,000 returned and that 4,650 churches took part in the UK. Mouse can only assume they are comparable stats, as they are all quoted by the BTCS folk. Losing the support of 25% of last year's participating churches is not good.
Mouse commented earlier in the year that the publicity had been dreadfully late, and no doubt this is part of the reason. The initiative is basically a good idea, so Mouse can't think of many good reasons why there would be a big drop off this year.
Mouse's advice is to get some buzz going earlier next year. Get twittering and blogging, and Mouse will pass on the good stuff that you're planning.
However, look behind the numbers and you'll see that this year was rather disappointing.
The 150,000 number is an estimate since 2004, and is certainly a good thing in itself. However the 2010 number is estimated at 51,000. This is based on the fact that 3,500 churches participated, and those who sent information in to BTCS said they averaged 18 people returning each. Now Mouse doesn't quite know how this gets you to 51,000, as a simple extrapolation would get you to 61,000, so perhaps they knocked a bit off to reflect the fact that those who bothered to send in information are probably those who most enthusiastically embraced the initiative and had most success. Either way, it still seems like a pretty optimistic estimate. We're not told what proportion of the 3,500 sent in returns, so it's hard to tell what degree of confidence we can have in the estimate.
However, when we compare with last year's estimates, we see that the Back to Church people reckoned that 83,000 returned and that 4,650 churches took part in the UK. Mouse can only assume they are comparable stats, as they are all quoted by the BTCS folk. Losing the support of 25% of last year's participating churches is not good.
Mouse commented earlier in the year that the publicity had been dreadfully late, and no doubt this is part of the reason. The initiative is basically a good idea, so Mouse can't think of many good reasons why there would be a big drop off this year.
Mouse's advice is to get some buzz going earlier next year. Get twittering and blogging, and Mouse will pass on the good stuff that you're planning.
Saturday round up
Apologies for the delay - Mouse was off sick yesterday. Here's my round up from the blogosphere. Ten of the best from the blogs this week.
1. BRIN on religious swearwords
2. Will and Testament on whether there is a war on Christmas
3. Mr CatOLick on synodical traditions in London and York
4. Lesley Fellows on Nick Baines and other bishops
5. Bishop Nick Baines on his new job
6. The Cartoon Church blog on understanding the age old symbolism behind modern Christmas activities
7. Cranmer takes on his Guardian critics over his Cliff for No.1 campaign
8. The Jubilee Centre blog on the normalising of debt
9. FaithWorld on how the Pope will be received in the German parliament
10. Clayboy on Q and the Christmas story
1. BRIN on religious swearwords
2. Will and Testament on whether there is a war on Christmas
3. Mr CatOLick on synodical traditions in London and York
4. Lesley Fellows on Nick Baines and other bishops
5. Bishop Nick Baines on his new job
6. The Cartoon Church blog on understanding the age old symbolism behind modern Christmas activities
7. Cranmer takes on his Guardian critics over his Cliff for No.1 campaign
8. The Jubilee Centre blog on the normalising of debt
9. FaithWorld on how the Pope will be received in the German parliament
10. Clayboy on Q and the Christmas story
Thursday, 16 December 2010
Guest Post: Matt Wardman on the all new National Secular Society
Matt Wardman returns to the Church Mouse Blog with an update on the goings on over at the National Secular Society, who seem to be attempting to reinvent themselves. Matt is an internet consultant, commentator, freelance writer and Project Manager based in the UK. He is available for hire. Matt edits the Wardman Wire, and writes at Poligeeks, Total Politics, and occasionally in several other places.
Matt writes:
--------------------------------------------
The leadership of the National Secular Society are attempting to remodel the society, following the creation of a "Secular Charter" by the NSS Council. The Charter was introduced at the National Secular Society's AGM several weeks ago by Terry Sandeson, the Society's President.
The full wording of the "Secular Charter" is this:
It's an interesting initiative, and I can think of plenty of church members, even Bishops, who would quite happily sigh up to most or all of that - depending on how it is all actually defined, and what it means when you get beyond the words, which are very ambiguous.
To take one example, in July this year Terry Sanderson expressed the view that "religious education in the UK is actually religious instruction":
So what is it that the NSS is committed to campaigning against, and who decides?
Similar points can be made about every point. Does the £125,000 given for repairing the roof at Ripon Cathedral in 2008 count as "funding religious activity", or "funding a Grade 1 listed building". What about Lottery Grants? If repairing the roof at a Cathedral were to be "funding religious activity", why should grants to Leicester Secular Hall be allowed, since that is clearly promoting an equivalent "belief"? There will need to be some very careful drawing of lines to avoid an ideological road accident.
But if there is one glaring problem with the Secular Charter, it is an underlying principle which assumes that "secular state" is equivalent to "non-religious state". It isn't, and I'd argue for a less polar definition of "secular". At the least, I think they could adopt the principle now codified in British law that replaces "religion" with "religion or belief".
Moving on to Terry Sanderson's address given at the AGM, this is the section introducing the Secular Charter:
Again there are grey and undercurrents areas, here, since the General Principles of the Society commit the NSS to be both anti-religious and atheistic:
I wonder whether the "General Principles" will be reformed, too.
There has long been a debate amongst NSS members as to whether being 'anti-religious' is a necessary ingredient of being 'pro-secularism', and Terry Sanderson confirms in the Newsline for 26 November 2010 that this is planned to be a year-long conversation:
There will be a good deal more debate on this, and I'm interested in the NSS's current vituperative and often evidence-free style of debate, which has also alienated a good number of people who should be their core supporters.
You can read the full NSS Annual Report here, and you can enter the debate in NSS Newsline by email:
Who's going to be the first Bishop to contribute?
Matt writes:
--------------------------------------------
The leadership of the National Secular Society are attempting to remodel the society, following the creation of a "Secular Charter" by the NSS Council. The Charter was introduced at the National Secular Society's AGM several weeks ago by Terry Sandeson, the Society's President.
The full wording of the "Secular Charter" is this:
The Society promotes the separation of religion and state where law and the administration of justice are based on equality, respect for Human Rights and objective evidence without regard to religious doctrine or belief.
We campaign for the following constitutional principles:
1. There shall be no established state religion.
2. The state shall not engage in, or fund, religious activities or practice.
3. All public and publicly-funded services must be non-discriminatory and non-religious [no proselytising or preaching or religious requirement to access services].
4. Publicly-funded schools shall be non-discriminatory in admissions and employment and there shall be no religious instruction or organised worship.
5. The state shall not have the right to amend religious doctrine nor interfere in religious hierarchies.
6. The state or any emanation of the state shall not express any religious beliefs or preferences.
7. Religious beliefs, ideas, organisations and people shall not enjoy privileged protection from the right to freedom of expression.
It's an interesting initiative, and I can think of plenty of church members, even Bishops, who would quite happily sigh up to most or all of that - depending on how it is all actually defined, and what it means when you get beyond the words, which are very ambiguous.
To take one example, in July this year Terry Sanderson expressed the view that "religious education in the UK is actually religious instruction":
Religious education is very much religious instruction still, whatever church apologists may say. The idea that religion is challenged or questioned to any meaningful extent in RE lessons is simply not true.
So what is it that the NSS is committed to campaigning against, and who decides?
Similar points can be made about every point. Does the £125,000 given for repairing the roof at Ripon Cathedral in 2008 count as "funding religious activity", or "funding a Grade 1 listed building". What about Lottery Grants? If repairing the roof at a Cathedral were to be "funding religious activity", why should grants to Leicester Secular Hall be allowed, since that is clearly promoting an equivalent "belief"? There will need to be some very careful drawing of lines to avoid an ideological road accident.
But if there is one glaring problem with the Secular Charter, it is an underlying principle which assumes that "secular state" is equivalent to "non-religious state". It isn't, and I'd argue for a less polar definition of "secular". At the least, I think they could adopt the principle now codified in British law that replaces "religion" with "religion or belief".
Moving on to Terry Sanderson's address given at the AGM, this is the section introducing the Secular Charter:
The NSS Council has worked together to produce a Secular Charter which we think can provide a new focus for the NSSÃs work in the twenty-first century. It seeks to be fair to everyone, to be achievable and to be benign.
I want the NSS to adopt this Charter as the basis of its ambition to create a properly secular society. I would like us to position ourselves as a purely secularist organisation with a focused objective, that will not only champion human rights above religious demands, but will also accept that religion has a place in society for those who want it, but on terms of equality, not privilege.
We will leave humanism for the humanist groups, atheism to the atheist groups and fix our sights uniquely on secularism.
The NSS must be at the forefront of the big debate about the place of religion in society. We must be ready to fight the myriad battles that will lead to the kind of society that we want. A society that is fair for all ñ religious people included.
Secularism protects the rights of everyone, religious and non-religious alike. Let the debate begin.
Again there are grey and undercurrents areas, here, since the General Principles of the Society commit the NSS to be both anti-religious and atheistic:
The National Secular Society affirms that this life is the only one of which we have any knowledge and human effort should be directed wholly towards its improvement. It asserts that supernaturalism is based upon ignorance and assails it as the historic enemy of progress.
I wonder whether the "General Principles" will be reformed, too.
There has long been a debate amongst NSS members as to whether being 'anti-religious' is a necessary ingredient of being 'pro-secularism', and Terry Sanderson confirms in the Newsline for 26 November 2010 that this is planned to be a year-long conversation:
... this is a big issue and one that we intend to discuss and debate over the coming year with a view to making some fundamental changes in the NSSÃs objectives. I introduced it in the annual report and I hope that all members will become involved in deciding the future structure of the NSS.
There will be a good deal more debate on this, and I'm interested in the NSS's current vituperative and often evidence-free style of debate, which has also alienated a good number of people who should be their core supporters.
You can read the full NSS Annual Report here, and you can enter the debate in NSS Newsline by email:
Please send your letters for publication to letters@secularism.org.uk. We want to publish as many letters as possible, so please keep them brief ñ no more than 250 words. We reserve the right to edit. Opinions expressed in letters are not necessarily those of the NSS
Who's going to be the first Bishop to contribute?
Tuesday, 14 December 2010
A Christmas Service Near You (so long as you live in the West Country)
One of the best web resources for the Church at the moment is the incredibly simple Church Near You website. It is brilliant because it does exactly what you'd expect it to do. You stick in a postcode or a place name and it shows you where the nearest churches are. Mouse suggested they create a widget so we can all put it on our blogs, but that would be the cherry on the cake.
So Mouse was delighted to see that the same idea has given rise to a couple of other sites to help people find Christmas services this year.
Bristol Diocese have put together www.christmasnearyou.org, whilst Exeter Diocese have built www.findacarolservice.com.
Both are excellent, although they come at the idea from a slightly different perspective.
Mouse has a couple of suggestions. Assuming these sites work well, which Mouse has every confidence they will, they should go national next year. Secondly, make sure you build a widget, so people can stick it in their Facebook pages, blogs and other websites.
So Mouse was delighted to see that the same idea has given rise to a couple of other sites to help people find Christmas services this year.
Bristol Diocese have put together www.christmasnearyou.org, whilst Exeter Diocese have built www.findacarolservice.com.
Both are excellent, although they come at the idea from a slightly different perspective.
Mouse has a couple of suggestions. Assuming these sites work well, which Mouse has every confidence they will, they should go national next year. Secondly, make sure you build a widget, so people can stick it in their Facebook pages, blogs and other websites.
Farewell Iain Dale's blog
Mouse just wanted to tip his metaphorical cap in the general direction of Iain Dale's Diary. Iain has undoubtedly been the most influential blogger in Britain for some time, and has announced today that he is giving up blogging to focus on other interests.
Iain's blog is one of the reasons why Mouse started blogging, after having seen how an independent voice can have a major impact. Iain is a Conservative, but is very independent minded and not afraid to criticise his own party when he thinks they are wrong - an approach Mouse has adopted with the good old CofE.
In the very early days of this blog, a link from Iain Dale generated hundreds of visits, and dozens of other blogs have been given prominence through Iain's "Daley Dozen" feature.
Thanks for the blogging, Iain.
Iain's blog is one of the reasons why Mouse started blogging, after having seen how an independent voice can have a major impact. Iain is a Conservative, but is very independent minded and not afraid to criticise his own party when he thinks they are wrong - an approach Mouse has adopted with the good old CofE.
In the very early days of this blog, a link from Iain Dale generated hundreds of visits, and dozens of other blogs have been given prominence through Iain's "Daley Dozen" feature.
Thanks for the blogging, Iain.
Inquiry into Southwark Diocese nominations leak won't be made public
Readers of this blog may remember earlier in the year that a storm blew up over the nominations for the post of Bishop of Southwark. The Telegraph reported that Canon Jeffrey John was the "preferred candidate", based on a leak from inside the process. This caused uproar as Jeffrey John is gay. A second leak then emerged, again in the Telegraph, stating that Jeffrey John had not made it onto the short list.
Mouse posted about the affair a couple of times, as it was rather painful for all involved, particularly since there were a few major factual errors in the reporting which the Church of England seemed reluctant to put right.
Now that some time has passed and the appointment has now been made, Mouse had rather moved on, but Thinking Anglicans reported on a fascinating question asked at Synod:
Are we really not going to hear any more about how this leak emerged, even if it turns out that the Archbishop of Canterbury knows and the Southwark Vacancy in See Commission know. Presumably the House of Bishops will be told. It would only be decent and proper for Jeffrey John to be told something. But the poor old membership will be kept in the dark.
Mouse posted about the affair a couple of times, as it was rather painful for all involved, particularly since there were a few major factual errors in the reporting which the Church of England seemed reluctant to put right.
Now that some time has passed and the appointment has now been made, Mouse had rather moved on, but Thinking Anglicans reported on a fascinating question asked at Synod:
At the recent November group of sessions Rachel Beck (Lincoln) asked the Archbishop of Canterbury:
Have any actions been taken by the CNC in response to the media reports that appeared in July, purporting to disclose details of its deliberations in relation to the Southwark episcopal vacancy, and will the CNC undertake to make public the full results of any investigation that it may have commissioned into the circumstances surrounding those reports?
The Archbishop of Canterbury replied:
The answer to the first part of the question is Yes. The Archbishops commissioned an external scrutiny by Baroness Fritchie, a senior cross bench peer, of how the CNC process around the vacancy in the See of Southwark gave rise to a number of media reports. This scrutiny has just been completed and the document will be shortly be shared with the members of the Commission for Southwark. It would not be appropriate to give that wider circulation. Any recommendations made in the report will first have to be carefully considered by the central members of the Commission and they will be so considered.
Are we really not going to hear any more about how this leak emerged, even if it turns out that the Archbishop of Canterbury knows and the Southwark Vacancy in See Commission know. Presumably the House of Bishops will be told. It would only be decent and proper for Jeffrey John to be told something. But the poor old membership will be kept in the dark.
Come on chaps. Lets see if you can muster up a sanitised version of events for the humble laity of this Church.
Monday, 13 December 2010
Chair of the flower guild forced out for resisting CRB checks at Gloucester Cathedral
This story has been going on for some time, but has now come to a rather unpleasant head. It is the extremely unlikely tale of Annabel Hayter, who has recently been pushed into resigning as Chair of the Gloucester Cathedral Flower Guild for resisting the encroachment of CRB checks into her group.
The story began when the Cathedral's Flower Guild (all female, average age 70) were asked to fill in CRB checks on the basis that they share toilet facilities with the choir, and therefore could be infiltrated by paedophiles.
Ms Hayter resisted this move. After 15 years in the Guild, she rather understandably saw this as unnecessary and unwanted. The story hit the press at this point, and it seems this was the move that was fatal for Ms Hayter's flower arranging career.
It has now been revealed that the Cathedral Chapter, the governing body for a cathedral, has asked Ms Hayter to resign from her position. The reason cited is that her position as Chair of the Flower Guild is incompatible with her campaigning on the issue of CRB checks.
Errr, excuse me.
The Chapter have put out a statement saying:
Since when has there been a rule that senior flower arrangers should not also campaign against CRB policies?
Clearly the point of grievance for the Chapter is the fact that Ms Hayter opposes their policy, rather than anything else. Mouse thinks it is rather absurd to think that everyone in a church who disagrees with the leadership of that church should not be allowed to serve. If that were the case, there would be dramatically fewer serving church members than there are today. As for members speaking out against the leadership, Rowan must be reading this story with a wry smile contemplating the things he has been called by priests and bishops from within his own church. The slings and arrows of Ms Annabel Hayter can be put into quite a different perspective.
The whole affair is pretty disastrous.
Many in the church start from the sensible and commendable position that we must do everything possible to protect children in our care, but end up in the silly position that this means we should CRB check everything that moves. Ms Hayter felt that point was reached, and did what she could to raise the issue publicly.
Common sense must be allowed to kick in at some point. And Ms Hayter should not have been pushed out for going public with her views.
Update: Am hearing information that there may be some more context. Am hearing that the Cathedral requires CRB checks for ALL volunteers. The issue with the sharing of toilets may be a complete red herring. As Andrew points out in the comments, asking someone to do a CRB check when there is no requirement for that (i.e. that they come into regular sole contact with children) may have separate legal issues.
The story began when the Cathedral's Flower Guild (all female, average age 70) were asked to fill in CRB checks on the basis that they share toilet facilities with the choir, and therefore could be infiltrated by paedophiles.
Ms Hayter resisted this move. After 15 years in the Guild, she rather understandably saw this as unnecessary and unwanted. The story hit the press at this point, and it seems this was the move that was fatal for Ms Hayter's flower arranging career.
It has now been revealed that the Cathedral Chapter, the governing body for a cathedral, has asked Ms Hayter to resign from her position. The reason cited is that her position as Chair of the Flower Guild is incompatible with her campaigning on the issue of CRB checks.
Errr, excuse me.
The Chapter have put out a statement saying:
The Chapter fully appreciates that there are those who are not in sympathy with its policy on CRB checks for volunteers.
However, Mrs Hayter took a prominent role in campaigning publicly against the Chapter’s current policy and, in a letter to Flower Guild members sent on November 29, encouraged other volunteers to refuse to comply with future CRB checks.
Mrs Hayter has accepted that her campaigning activities are incompatible with her role as chairman of the Guild.
Since when has there been a rule that senior flower arrangers should not also campaign against CRB policies?
Clearly the point of grievance for the Chapter is the fact that Ms Hayter opposes their policy, rather than anything else. Mouse thinks it is rather absurd to think that everyone in a church who disagrees with the leadership of that church should not be allowed to serve. If that were the case, there would be dramatically fewer serving church members than there are today. As for members speaking out against the leadership, Rowan must be reading this story with a wry smile contemplating the things he has been called by priests and bishops from within his own church. The slings and arrows of Ms Annabel Hayter can be put into quite a different perspective.
The whole affair is pretty disastrous.
Many in the church start from the sensible and commendable position that we must do everything possible to protect children in our care, but end up in the silly position that this means we should CRB check everything that moves. Ms Hayter felt that point was reached, and did what she could to raise the issue publicly.
Common sense must be allowed to kick in at some point. And Ms Hayter should not have been pushed out for going public with her views.
Update: Am hearing information that there may be some more context. Am hearing that the Cathedral requires CRB checks for ALL volunteers. The issue with the sharing of toilets may be a complete red herring. As Andrew points out in the comments, asking someone to do a CRB check when there is no requirement for that (i.e. that they come into regular sole contact with children) may have separate legal issues.
Sunday, 12 December 2010
Bishops are unwise to back B&B discrimination case - they will lose
The legal case approaching around the alleged discrimination practiced by B&B owners who have a policy of only allowing married couples to rent rooms with a double bed is rather more subtle than many recent similar cases.
The background to this is pretty well worn by now. Martyn Hall and Steven Preddy booked a room in Peter and Hazelmary Bull's Bed and Breakfast in Cornwall, but on arrival were turned away. The couple in a civil partnership were told that only married couples can rent rooms with a double bed in the B&B, so were refunded their deposit and told to find somewhere else to stay.
The allegation of discrimination on grounds of sexuality will be put in the context of a policy around marriage which applies to gay and straight alike. The defence will argue that the owners of Chymorvah B&B were not discriminating against Martyn Hall and Steven Preddy when the refused them the room they had booked, as the rejection was not on the basis that they were gay but because they were not married. They will argue that they would have acted in exactly the same way had an unmarried straight couple been in the same situation.
In their defence, they will probably put the advertisements they made stating this policy, and it's consistent application with unmarried straight couples. This from their website illustrates the point:
Of course the trouble is that gay people can't get married, so the whole thing has a problem from the start.
There are some interesting legal principles here, which Mouse is not qualified to analyse fully. However, one point jumps out to Mouse.
The law gives civil partnerships the same legal rights and duties as marriages. It looks distinctly dodgy territory to discriminate in the provision of services between those who are married and those in a civil partnership. Mouse assumes this is an open and shut case of illegal discrimination on the basis of sexuality.
Martyn Hall and Steven Preddy may have difficultly in demonstrating that the offence caused by this discrimination entitles them to damages of £5,000 on the basis of their hurt feelings, but nevertheless Mouse reckons they will very quickly be able to establish that it was indeed a case of discrimination as the law defines.
And so, once again we have the Christian Institute, Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali and Bishop Michael Scott-Joynt backing the wrong horse.
You may remember the hyperbole which surrounded the revelation shortly before the last general election when Chris Grayling was recorded privately backing the right of B&B owners to decide who they admit and who they don't admit to their own homes. This was met with immediate and fierce accusations of homophobia, and the straight-forward argument that if you don't want to operate within the law, you should change your profession.
The stance from the bishops puts the Church in the same position as Grayling, so we should expect that the same accusations will be leveled at the church through the position taken by these bishops.
The background to this is pretty well worn by now. Martyn Hall and Steven Preddy booked a room in Peter and Hazelmary Bull's Bed and Breakfast in Cornwall, but on arrival were turned away. The couple in a civil partnership were told that only married couples can rent rooms with a double bed in the B&B, so were refunded their deposit and told to find somewhere else to stay.
The allegation of discrimination on grounds of sexuality will be put in the context of a policy around marriage which applies to gay and straight alike. The defence will argue that the owners of Chymorvah B&B were not discriminating against Martyn Hall and Steven Preddy when the refused them the room they had booked, as the rejection was not on the basis that they were gay but because they were not married. They will argue that they would have acted in exactly the same way had an unmarried straight couple been in the same situation.
In their defence, they will probably put the advertisements they made stating this policy, and it's consistent application with unmarried straight couples. This from their website illustrates the point:
Here at Chymorvah we have few rules, but please note that as Christians we have a deep regard for marriage(being the union of one man to one woman for life to the exclusion of all others).
Therefore, although we extend to all a warm welcome to our home, our double bedded accommodation is not available to unmarried couples – Thank you.
Of course the trouble is that gay people can't get married, so the whole thing has a problem from the start.
There are some interesting legal principles here, which Mouse is not qualified to analyse fully. However, one point jumps out to Mouse.
The law gives civil partnerships the same legal rights and duties as marriages. It looks distinctly dodgy territory to discriminate in the provision of services between those who are married and those in a civil partnership. Mouse assumes this is an open and shut case of illegal discrimination on the basis of sexuality.
Martyn Hall and Steven Preddy may have difficultly in demonstrating that the offence caused by this discrimination entitles them to damages of £5,000 on the basis of their hurt feelings, but nevertheless Mouse reckons they will very quickly be able to establish that it was indeed a case of discrimination as the law defines.
And so, once again we have the Christian Institute, Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali and Bishop Michael Scott-Joynt backing the wrong horse.
You may remember the hyperbole which surrounded the revelation shortly before the last general election when Chris Grayling was recorded privately backing the right of B&B owners to decide who they admit and who they don't admit to their own homes. This was met with immediate and fierce accusations of homophobia, and the straight-forward argument that if you don't want to operate within the law, you should change your profession.
The stance from the bishops puts the Church in the same position as Grayling, so we should expect that the same accusations will be leveled at the church through the position taken by these bishops.
Friday, 10 December 2010
Friday round up
Here's my round up from the blogosphere. Ten of the best from the blogs this week.
1. Mr CatOLick on the synodical tea rooms
2. Kouya on voting, the media and the Ivory Coast
3. Phil Ritchie on KJV celebrations
4. BRIN on the religious meaning of Christmas
5. Bishop Nick Baines on mixing with the media
6. Cranmer on the Pope and global warming
7. Bishop Alan Wilson on truly free schools
8. Tall Skinny Kiwi has some great lists of Christmas things
9. Lesley Fellows on the Church of England and Social Media
10. Peter Ould gets maximum geek points for creating an interactive map to show the proposed diocesan changes
1. Mr CatOLick on the synodical tea rooms
2. Kouya on voting, the media and the Ivory Coast
3. Phil Ritchie on KJV celebrations
4. BRIN on the religious meaning of Christmas
5. Bishop Nick Baines on mixing with the media
6. Cranmer on the Pope and global warming
7. Bishop Alan Wilson on truly free schools
8. Tall Skinny Kiwi has some great lists of Christmas things
9. Lesley Fellows on the Church of England and Social Media
10. Peter Ould gets maximum geek points for creating an interactive map to show the proposed diocesan changes
Thursday, 9 December 2010
The Big Society's big bucks - churches won't get any
David Cameron's notion of a Big Society has caused a huge amount of comment. Some have bemoaned that they don't really know what it means, and sounding suspicious that it is really just hot air. Others have voiced fear that it really means the contracting out of government services to charities, to get the work done on the cheap.
Churches have pointed out that they have been doing the Big Society thing for centuries, but still there has been a mixed reaction. Some Christians have feared that the language of the Big Society is being used as cover for public spending cuts. Others, however, have leapt on the idea seeing an opportunity to gain support for their work in the community where they had previously met with suspicion from local authorities.
The government had been courting the churches, telling them that the days where the government saw religion as a problem have ended. They were encouraged to mobilise behind the vision of the Big Society, to play their full role.
This in turn has created even more suspicion from secularists that the government was seeking to contract out government services to churches and religious groups.
The latest news in this saga is that the Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles, has told the churches that they shouldn't bank on getting any more government cash.
According to Catholic magazine The Tablet, Pickles said:
"The thing that unites all faiths is a determination to look after the vulnerable and to make society safer. We are keen that voluntary groups are supported but we are also keen that they are not creatures of the state. We think that faith groups have the possibility to be able to do these things without relying on state subsidy."
To Mouse, the Big Society really is a big idea. And Christians really can play a bigger part than they do today. However, there seems to be a huge amount of misunderstanding going on.
Charlie Peer points out that the Guardian's Religious Affairs Correspondent, Riazat Butt, had said that Christians had been welcoming the Big Society talk "seeing it as a way to re-establish their place in society". Charlie quite rightly points out that establishing a place in society should not be an objective of the church, and neither of us think it is.
Mouse reckons that those who fear the churches taking over government services really don't understand what Christians are about. Those who fear that the government is seeking to off-load services onto the churches are misunderstanding what the Big Society is about.
We want to fill in the gaps where government services fail, not take them over. Governments have never attempted to show love to their people, just to deliver services. If we try to do each other's jobs it will all end in a horrible mess.
Churches have pointed out that they have been doing the Big Society thing for centuries, but still there has been a mixed reaction. Some Christians have feared that the language of the Big Society is being used as cover for public spending cuts. Others, however, have leapt on the idea seeing an opportunity to gain support for their work in the community where they had previously met with suspicion from local authorities.
The government had been courting the churches, telling them that the days where the government saw religion as a problem have ended. They were encouraged to mobilise behind the vision of the Big Society, to play their full role.
This in turn has created even more suspicion from secularists that the government was seeking to contract out government services to churches and religious groups.
The latest news in this saga is that the Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles, has told the churches that they shouldn't bank on getting any more government cash.
According to Catholic magazine The Tablet, Pickles said:
"The thing that unites all faiths is a determination to look after the vulnerable and to make society safer. We are keen that voluntary groups are supported but we are also keen that they are not creatures of the state. We think that faith groups have the possibility to be able to do these things without relying on state subsidy."
To Mouse, the Big Society really is a big idea. And Christians really can play a bigger part than they do today. However, there seems to be a huge amount of misunderstanding going on.
Charlie Peer points out that the Guardian's Religious Affairs Correspondent, Riazat Butt, had said that Christians had been welcoming the Big Society talk "seeing it as a way to re-establish their place in society". Charlie quite rightly points out that establishing a place in society should not be an objective of the church, and neither of us think it is.
Mouse reckons that those who fear the churches taking over government services really don't understand what Christians are about. Those who fear that the government is seeking to off-load services onto the churches are misunderstanding what the Big Society is about.
We want to fill in the gaps where government services fail, not take them over. Governments have never attempted to show love to their people, just to deliver services. If we try to do each other's jobs it will all end in a horrible mess.
Full Wikio rankings for Religion and Belief blogs
As with last month, Mouse thought it would be helpful to add in the overall rankings for those blogs which feature in the Religion & Belief category top 20.
So, here's the top 20 Religion & Belief blogs, with the overall ranking in brackets afterwards.
Mouse is delighted to break into the top 100 this month for the first time and is pleased to report that almost every blog in the rankings is up in the overall rankings this month. Mouse cannot quite explain it, however.
Once again, Mouse surrenders top spot to another worthy blog. His Grace Archbishop Cranmer is listed at 37 in the overall rankings, but Wikio still don't seem to be able to list a blog in two categories, so His Grace appears in the Politics category and not the Religion & Belief category. However this month His Grace has been pipped by another blog which Mouse would include in this listing. Mouse had previously listed Heresy Corner in his home made Religion category. The Heresiarch has reached an all time high of 15 in the overall rankings, so by rights should take this month's top spot.
1 The Church Mouse Blog (92)
2 Islam in Europe (153)
3 The hermeneutic of continuity (181)
4 The Freethinker (182)
5 Will and Testament (216)
6 Anglican Mainstream (225)
7 Thinking Anglicans (235)
8 eChurch Christian Blog (250)
9 Bishop Alan’s Blog (273)
10 Epiphenom (323)
11 Bartholomew's Notes on Religion (325)
12 Nick Baines's Blog (329)
13 The Cartoon Blog (357)
14 Lesley's Blog (373)
15 The Ugley Vicar (384)
16 Phil's Treehouse (397)
17 The Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley (437)
18 An Exercise in the Fundamentals of Orthodoxy (440)
19 Apologetics 315 (485)
20 Adrian's Blog (511)
So, here's the top 20 Religion & Belief blogs, with the overall ranking in brackets afterwards.
Mouse is delighted to break into the top 100 this month for the first time and is pleased to report that almost every blog in the rankings is up in the overall rankings this month. Mouse cannot quite explain it, however.
Once again, Mouse surrenders top spot to another worthy blog. His Grace Archbishop Cranmer is listed at 37 in the overall rankings, but Wikio still don't seem to be able to list a blog in two categories, so His Grace appears in the Politics category and not the Religion & Belief category. However this month His Grace has been pipped by another blog which Mouse would include in this listing. Mouse had previously listed Heresy Corner in his home made Religion category. The Heresiarch has reached an all time high of 15 in the overall rankings, so by rights should take this month's top spot.
1 The Church Mouse Blog (92)
2 Islam in Europe (153)
3 The hermeneutic of continuity (181)
4 The Freethinker (182)
5 Will and Testament (216)
6 Anglican Mainstream (225)
7 Thinking Anglicans (235)
8 eChurch Christian Blog (250)
9 Bishop Alan’s Blog (273)
10 Epiphenom (323)
11 Bartholomew's Notes on Religion (325)
12 Nick Baines's Blog (329)
13 The Cartoon Blog (357)
14 Lesley's Blog (373)
15 The Ugley Vicar (384)
16 Phil's Treehouse (397)
17 The Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley (437)
18 An Exercise in the Fundamentals of Orthodoxy (440)
19 Apologetics 315 (485)
20 Adrian's Blog (511)
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
God in schools - guest post from Professor Trevor Cooling on his new report for Theos
Last week Theos issued a major report looking at the issues involved with religion in education. The report was authored by Trevor Cooling, Professor of Christian education, Canterbury Christ church University, and here Trevor sets out the key themes of the report.
It has become obvious to Mouse recently that the debate about faith schools, and religion in education more widely, is increasingly dominated by the likes of the British Humanist Association, who employ a full time person to campaign against the existence of faith schools. Supporters of faith schools and the role of faith in schools, are talking as if they are on the back foot, defensively responding to their critics. This report shifts the terms of the debate entirely, and so is important for everyone involved.
Trevor writes:
----------------------------------------------------------
Why does a local authority suspend a teacher for praying with pupils? Why does a respected but ordained scientist resign his prestigious post as Education Officer at the Royal Society? Why do Christian student teachers feel their beliefs are a problem in the classroom whilst atheist student teachers see theirs as an asset? Why do people get so hot under the collar about religion in schools? Last week, Theos published its latest report aimed at revealing just what lies at the roots of the debate about the role of religion in government-funded education.
The report’s answer is simple. It’s because the education industry has bought into the idea that religious belief has nothing to do with “proper” education. Citing the writings of humanist spokesman Professor Richard Norman, Doing God in Education traces the influence of the view that education should only be shaped by objective ideas and shared values. Religious beliefs are simply irrelevant, and possibly harmful, “clutter” that should never be allowed to influence the ethos of schools.
But this is a distinctively humanist understanding of human knowledge. Why, the report asks, should the particular beliefs of one community be allowed to dominate how we think about the purpose of education as a nation? That doesn’t seem to be a particularly fair way of dealing with the many religious and non-religious communities that make up modern, multifaith Britain.
The report’s alternative is to argue that, actually, beliefs are integral to education; they are definitely not clutter, some optional extra to the objective content that makes up a true education. The fact is that for anyone to learn anything, it has to happen from within a framework of beliefs that are nurtured by the home, school and wider community. True education should not therefore treat belief as irrelevant but as integral to the teaching of every subject on the curriculum. To illustrate this idea the report describes the work of modern foreign languages (MFL) expert Professor David Smith who has shown how MFL teaching can be revolutionised from basically being induction into tourism to being nurture into the art of hospitality if taught from a Christian perspective.
One thing above all other will horrify critics, namely the prospect of competing religious communities using schools to promote their own interests and marginalize others. Here the report concurs. Education should not, it agrees, be about dividing pupils into competing tribes. It should be about promoting the common good, about seeking the well-being of all pupils, about learning to cooperate together as citizens and about exploring human knowledge together with those who are different from us. The mistake, however, is to treat religion as the problem in education rather than as a resource that can support these aspirations for government schools. What is needed is not the dismissal of religion to the realm of private hobbies as the secularists seem to desire, but the harnessing of religion in the cause of excellent public education. Doing God in education benefits everyone.
Doing God in Education can be downloaded at www.theosthinktank.co.uk.
It has become obvious to Mouse recently that the debate about faith schools, and religion in education more widely, is increasingly dominated by the likes of the British Humanist Association, who employ a full time person to campaign against the existence of faith schools. Supporters of faith schools and the role of faith in schools, are talking as if they are on the back foot, defensively responding to their critics. This report shifts the terms of the debate entirely, and so is important for everyone involved.
Trevor writes:
----------------------------------------------------------
Doing God in Education
The report’s answer is simple. It’s because the education industry has bought into the idea that religious belief has nothing to do with “proper” education. Citing the writings of humanist spokesman Professor Richard Norman, Doing God in Education traces the influence of the view that education should only be shaped by objective ideas and shared values. Religious beliefs are simply irrelevant, and possibly harmful, “clutter” that should never be allowed to influence the ethos of schools.
But this is a distinctively humanist understanding of human knowledge. Why, the report asks, should the particular beliefs of one community be allowed to dominate how we think about the purpose of education as a nation? That doesn’t seem to be a particularly fair way of dealing with the many religious and non-religious communities that make up modern, multifaith Britain.
The report’s alternative is to argue that, actually, beliefs are integral to education; they are definitely not clutter, some optional extra to the objective content that makes up a true education. The fact is that for anyone to learn anything, it has to happen from within a framework of beliefs that are nurtured by the home, school and wider community. True education should not therefore treat belief as irrelevant but as integral to the teaching of every subject on the curriculum. To illustrate this idea the report describes the work of modern foreign languages (MFL) expert Professor David Smith who has shown how MFL teaching can be revolutionised from basically being induction into tourism to being nurture into the art of hospitality if taught from a Christian perspective.
One thing above all other will horrify critics, namely the prospect of competing religious communities using schools to promote their own interests and marginalize others. Here the report concurs. Education should not, it agrees, be about dividing pupils into competing tribes. It should be about promoting the common good, about seeking the well-being of all pupils, about learning to cooperate together as citizens and about exploring human knowledge together with those who are different from us. The mistake, however, is to treat religion as the problem in education rather than as a resource that can support these aspirations for government schools. What is needed is not the dismissal of religion to the realm of private hobbies as the secularists seem to desire, but the harnessing of religion in the cause of excellent public education. Doing God in education benefits everyone.
Doing God in Education can be downloaded at www.theosthinktank.co.uk.
Friends at church make you happy
Research in the US has shown that religious people are happiest with their lives when they have made friends at church.
Not surprising, perhaps, but the research indicates that the health of a believers prayer live, the vibrancy of their worship at church and the strength of their faith are not the key determinants of their levels of happiness. What matters most is whether the believer has made a few close friends at church and feel a strong sense of belonging.
This research is being used to argue that what makes religious people happier that the non-religious, are the social aspects of religious community and not the spiritual.
Perhaps.
Mouse feels, however, that the research seems to be stating the painfully obvious - that being lonely in your church does not lead to a happy life. Like so many studies we must try to discern correlation from causation. It may well be true that people who have made friends are happier, but that does not mean that all you have to do the raise happiness levels is to help people make friends. There may well be good reasons why these people have not made friends at church.
It is also impossible to compare the results of this study, focused only on those who attend churches, with the reasons for the happiness or otherwise of non-religious people.
Mouse does feel that there is something important in there for church leaders. The study seems to show that it is the fellowship aspects of church life which spill out into peoples lives the most. Perhaps we should focus more on how we live out the gospel as a Christian community.
Not surprising, perhaps, but the research indicates that the health of a believers prayer live, the vibrancy of their worship at church and the strength of their faith are not the key determinants of their levels of happiness. What matters most is whether the believer has made a few close friends at church and feel a strong sense of belonging.
This research is being used to argue that what makes religious people happier that the non-religious, are the social aspects of religious community and not the spiritual.
Perhaps.
Mouse feels, however, that the research seems to be stating the painfully obvious - that being lonely in your church does not lead to a happy life. Like so many studies we must try to discern correlation from causation. It may well be true that people who have made friends are happier, but that does not mean that all you have to do the raise happiness levels is to help people make friends. There may well be good reasons why these people have not made friends at church.
It is also impossible to compare the results of this study, focused only on those who attend churches, with the reasons for the happiness or otherwise of non-religious people.
Mouse does feel that there is something important in there for church leaders. The study seems to show that it is the fellowship aspects of church life which spill out into peoples lives the most. Perhaps we should focus more on how we live out the gospel as a Christian community.
Tuesday, 7 December 2010
The rise and rise of paganism in equality rules
See if you can spot the odd one out:
Christianity
Buddhism
Islam
The Baha'i Faith
Paganism
The answer is the Baha'i faith. The reason - the others are all listed as religions which must be respected by the UK's Prison Service. The list also includes Hinduism, Judaeism and Sikhism. But does not include a whole raft of other minority religions.
Making it onto this list confers that minority with a whole host of rights. For pagans, it has emerged that these include the right to have a stick in your cell to use as a wand and the right to chose four days to take off work to celebrate pagan festivals, on which you can request special pagan food to eat (don't ask).
Not surprisingly the Daily Mail see this as pandering to a tiny minority, which it seems the prison service is doing to avoid being sued on the grounds of religious discrimination. Mouse would just point out that Paganism has been recognised by the prison service for a number of years, so this isn't really new news. Similar headlines to todays have been around for a while.
Christians don't seem to do too well in the prison service league table of number of religious days off, managing only three mandatory days off for Christmas, Good Friday and Easter day. By comparison Sikh prisoners do best with six.
All this seems to be a good way of ensuring that common sense is kept out of the system.
It also seems to encourage some strange behaviours. The incentive would surely be for prisoners to check out the perks they can get from each religion shortly after sentencing, and make sure they sign up to the one with maximum benefits. Not exactly a healthy approach to religion and belief.
Christianity
Buddhism
Islam
The Baha'i Faith
Paganism
The answer is the Baha'i faith. The reason - the others are all listed as religions which must be respected by the UK's Prison Service. The list also includes Hinduism, Judaeism and Sikhism. But does not include a whole raft of other minority religions.
Making it onto this list confers that minority with a whole host of rights. For pagans, it has emerged that these include the right to have a stick in your cell to use as a wand and the right to chose four days to take off work to celebrate pagan festivals, on which you can request special pagan food to eat (don't ask).
Not surprisingly the Daily Mail see this as pandering to a tiny minority, which it seems the prison service is doing to avoid being sued on the grounds of religious discrimination. Mouse would just point out that Paganism has been recognised by the prison service for a number of years, so this isn't really new news. Similar headlines to todays have been around for a while.
Christians don't seem to do too well in the prison service league table of number of religious days off, managing only three mandatory days off for Christmas, Good Friday and Easter day. By comparison Sikh prisoners do best with six.
All this seems to be a good way of ensuring that common sense is kept out of the system.
It also seems to encourage some strange behaviours. The incentive would surely be for prisoners to check out the perks they can get from each religion shortly after sentencing, and make sure they sign up to the one with maximum benefits. Not exactly a healthy approach to religion and belief.
Podcasts at the Twurch of England
Mouse has mentioned a couple of times that there are some good podcasts to listen to over at the Twurch of England. He wanted to let you know that it looks like these will now become a pretty regular feature. They is some overlap in the territory covered by this blog, and are generally very good quality.
So far they've mainly been guest interviews, and the Mouse has featured a couple of times. Who knows what we'll be hearing about in the future, but you can subscribe to the podcast feed directly or via iTunes, so it's easy to make sure you don't miss an episode.
Mouse would be interested to hear what other podcasts are worth a listen.
So far they've mainly been guest interviews, and the Mouse has featured a couple of times. Who knows what we'll be hearing about in the future, but you can subscribe to the podcast feed directly or via iTunes, so it's easy to make sure you don't miss an episode.
Mouse would be interested to hear what other podcasts are worth a listen.
Monday, 6 December 2010
Gavin Peacock profile in the Independent
For those who missed it, Mouse commends to you the profile of ex-Chelsea footballer, Gavin Peacock, in the Independent. Peacock played for Chelsea and Newcastle United in the Premier League, and was a pundit for the BBC after his playing days ended. However, after working for the BBC on Euro 2008, Peacock decided to move to Canada and study theology, on his way to becoming a pastor.
The piece was written by the Independent's sports reporter, so don't expect particularly searching questions about Peacock's faith, but nevertheless it is great to hear stories like this.
The piece was written by the Independent's sports reporter, so don't expect particularly searching questions about Peacock's faith, but nevertheless it is great to hear stories like this.
Saturday, 4 December 2010
Rev inspiration vicar campaigns to keep strip clubs open
This one is surely an open goal for the red tops this weekend. According to the Evening Standard, Rev Paul Turp, one of the vicars who was the inspiration behind BBC TV sitcom Rev, has come out in support of keeping Hackney's strip clubs open.
Rev Paul Turp is vicar of St, Leonard's, Shoreditch, a parish which is home to four strip clubs. Hackney council is using new legislation to block any new strip clubs and threatens to revoke the licenses of those which are already there when they come up for renewal.
Campaigners say that the move will take away 400 jobs, and Paul Turp has come out in support, and may even join a protest outside Hackney town hall on Tuesday.
Turp is quoted as saying, "I would prefer if it didn't happen, but Hackney council cannot impose a moral code on it's citizens, it can only impose a criminal code. I've been here for 27 years and there have been no problems. They are not dodgy back-street places where people are getting ripped off. They are well run and the council has done a good job at licensing them. There are much bigger social problems that destroy communities for the council to be concentrating on than lapdancing clubs".
He is certainly right about there being bigger problems, but critics will argue that this does not mean you should accept a lesser evil, just because a worse one still exists.
Mouse can't find any tabloids who have picked this up just yet, but surely it is only a matter of time. I hope Rev Paul Turp has prepared himself for some flack on this one - if you want to get in touch Paul, just drop Mouse a line.
Rev Paul Turp is vicar of St, Leonard's, Shoreditch, a parish which is home to four strip clubs. Hackney council is using new legislation to block any new strip clubs and threatens to revoke the licenses of those which are already there when they come up for renewal.
Campaigners say that the move will take away 400 jobs, and Paul Turp has come out in support, and may even join a protest outside Hackney town hall on Tuesday.
Turp is quoted as saying, "I would prefer if it didn't happen, but Hackney council cannot impose a moral code on it's citizens, it can only impose a criminal code. I've been here for 27 years and there have been no problems. They are not dodgy back-street places where people are getting ripped off. They are well run and the council has done a good job at licensing them. There are much bigger social problems that destroy communities for the council to be concentrating on than lapdancing clubs".
He is certainly right about there being bigger problems, but critics will argue that this does not mean you should accept a lesser evil, just because a worse one still exists.
Mouse can't find any tabloids who have picked this up just yet, but surely it is only a matter of time. I hope Rev Paul Turp has prepared himself for some flack on this one - if you want to get in touch Paul, just drop Mouse a line.
Friday, 3 December 2010
Friday round up
Here's my round up from the blogosphere. Ten of the best from the blogs this week.
1. Tall Skinny Kiwi on the top 10 images of Jesus
2. The excellent Epiphenom on sacrificing to God
3. Bishop Nick Baines with some wise words on the Christian persecution 'complex'
4. Rev'd Lesley on World Aids Day (including Rowan's fab video)
5. BRIN on psychological type and Biblical interpretation
6. Phil Ritchie is one of many who posted this rather amusing video of how to speak Christianese
7. Revising Reform on Dr Barth and Dr Seuss
8. Clayboy on the Blair Hitch project
9. Vic the Vicar becomes a victim of persecution and discrimination (put your irony detector on standby)
10. eChurch Christian Blog on the 10 worst nativity scenes
1. Tall Skinny Kiwi on the top 10 images of Jesus
2. The excellent Epiphenom on sacrificing to God
3. Bishop Nick Baines with some wise words on the Christian persecution 'complex'
4. Rev'd Lesley on World Aids Day (including Rowan's fab video)
5. BRIN on psychological type and Biblical interpretation
6. Phil Ritchie is one of many who posted this rather amusing video of how to speak Christianese
7. Revising Reform on Dr Barth and Dr Seuss
8. Clayboy on the Blair Hitch project
9. Vic the Vicar becomes a victim of persecution and discrimination (put your irony detector on standby)
10. eChurch Christian Blog on the 10 worst nativity scenes
Top religious blogs - Wikio rankings
Here is a sneak peek of the religious blog rankings from Wikio. The good news is that the Mouse retains the No.1 spot. The bad news is that Cranmer is still not in the list.
Since last month it appears that Bartholomew's Notes has dropped down the rankings, although Bartholomew is an irregular poster, so it is not unusual for his ranking to fluctuate. Will and Testament has risen dramatically from 19 last month to 5 this month, whilst the Changing Attitude blog has dropped out of the listing altogether. Catholic and Loving it, seems to have dropped out of the list (boo), whilst the Beaker Folk are back in (hooray). Also back is Phil's Treehouse, which Mouse is one of Mouse's favourite blogs.
Ranking made by Wikio
Since last month it appears that Bartholomew's Notes has dropped down the rankings, although Bartholomew is an irregular poster, so it is not unusual for his ranking to fluctuate. Will and Testament has risen dramatically from 19 last month to 5 this month, whilst the Changing Attitude blog has dropped out of the listing altogether. Catholic and Loving it, seems to have dropped out of the list (boo), whilst the Beaker Folk are back in (hooray). Also back is Phil's Treehouse, which Mouse is one of Mouse's favourite blogs.
Ranking made by Wikio
Thursday, 2 December 2010
+John Broadhurst resigns as Chairman of Forward in Faith
After announcing that he would leave the Church of England to join the Ordinariate, and saying that he would continue in his role and that FiF is not necessarily just an Anglican organisation, it seems John Broadhurst has now had a change of heart. Quite sensibly he has realised that his future lies elsewhere.
From the FiF website:
Bishop John Broadhurst resigns as Chairman of FiF UK
Nov 30, 2010
At its residential meeting this week, the Council of Forward in Faith accepted the resignation of its Chairman, Bishop John Broadhurst, both with regret and with grateful thanks for all that he has done to guide and lead this organisation from its foundation in 1992. It was Bishop John’s decision to resign and that decision had been communicated by him to the Council prior to its meeting. As a small token of the gratitude of all the members of Forward in Faith for Bishop John’s magnificent contribution to the life of the organisation as well as the enormous contribution of Judi his wife, the Council presented him with a cheque to spend in their new home. They know that they are assured of the prayers of us all for whatever the future may hold.
Pending the election of his successor some time in the New Year, Sister Anne Williams CA, the Vice-Chairman of Forward in Faith, will undertake the role of Acting Chairman
From the FiF website:
Bishop John Broadhurst resigns as Chairman of FiF UK
Nov 30, 2010
At its residential meeting this week, the Council of Forward in Faith accepted the resignation of its Chairman, Bishop John Broadhurst, both with regret and with grateful thanks for all that he has done to guide and lead this organisation from its foundation in 1992. It was Bishop John’s decision to resign and that decision had been communicated by him to the Council prior to its meeting. As a small token of the gratitude of all the members of Forward in Faith for Bishop John’s magnificent contribution to the life of the organisation as well as the enormous contribution of Judi his wife, the Council presented him with a cheque to spend in their new home. They know that they are assured of the prayers of us all for whatever the future may hold.
Pending the election of his successor some time in the New Year, Sister Anne Williams CA, the Vice-Chairman of Forward in Faith, will undertake the role of Acting Chairman
Not Ashamed of misrepresenting people you don't like? Who said Christians are being persecuted?
Mouse has been pretty surprised by the level of interest in the Not Ashamed campaign, which launched itself publicly today. Lord Carey published a booklet which invited people to wear a Christian symbol publicly as a way of showing they are not ashamed of their faith.
You would think that this is pretty uncontroversial stuff. Who would tell people to be ashamed of their Christian faith? Who would tell people to hide it away and not show it publicly?
But, of course, there is more to it than that. Mouse criticised the campaign for being a little negative in outlook. Whilst accepting that the slogan "not ashamed" is drawing from Biblical language, Mouse would rather use more positive language in a campaign of this nature.
However, others have taken aim at the former Archbishop and his friends at Not Ashamed for far worse. He has been accused of perpetuating the myth of 'Christianaphobia' and creating a false 'victim narrative' and made bogus claims of 'persecution'.
Andrew Copson, BHA Chief Executive said, ‘The increasingly desperate attempts to work up a victim narrative of “Christianophobia” by these activists have no basis in reality. The assumption behind it is that there is a groundswell of discrimination and persecution of Christians in Britain, but this assumption is false.
You would think that this is pretty uncontroversial stuff. Who would tell people to be ashamed of their Christian faith? Who would tell people to hide it away and not show it publicly?
But, of course, there is more to it than that. Mouse criticised the campaign for being a little negative in outlook. Whilst accepting that the slogan "not ashamed" is drawing from Biblical language, Mouse would rather use more positive language in a campaign of this nature.
However, others have taken aim at the former Archbishop and his friends at Not Ashamed for far worse. He has been accused of perpetuating the myth of 'Christianaphobia' and creating a false 'victim narrative' and made bogus claims of 'persecution'.
Andrew Copson, BHA Chief Executive said, ‘The increasingly desperate attempts to work up a victim narrative of “Christianophobia” by these activists have no basis in reality. The assumption behind it is that there is a groundswell of discrimination and persecution of Christians in Britain, but this assumption is false.
And it is not just Humanists who have been making this point. Bishop Nick Baines made the case on Channel 4 that Christians in Britain are not being persecuted.
But Mouse has a question - who is claiming that Christians are persecuted?
That is certainly not what the Not Ashamed are claiming. If we take the trouble to read Lord Carey's booklet, which launched the campaign yesterday, we find that all he claims is that there is an attempt to "air-brush the Christian faith out of the picture". In fact the basis of the Not Ashamed campaign is not to do with fighting back against persecution, but about resisting the idea that Christianity should only be allowed to take place in the private sphere.
OK, so that's what the leaflet says, but we all know that Lord Carey has supported a number of the so-called "Christian persecution" cases recently, so he must be a believer in the persecution complex? Actually no. Here's what he said on the subject of Christian persecution in Britain:
But Mouse has a question - who is claiming that Christians are persecuted?
That is certainly not what the Not Ashamed are claiming. If we take the trouble to read Lord Carey's booklet, which launched the campaign yesterday, we find that all he claims is that there is an attempt to "air-brush the Christian faith out of the picture". In fact the basis of the Not Ashamed campaign is not to do with fighting back against persecution, but about resisting the idea that Christianity should only be allowed to take place in the private sphere.
OK, so that's what the leaflet says, but we all know that Lord Carey has supported a number of the so-called "Christian persecution" cases recently, so he must be a believer in the persecution complex? Actually no. Here's what he said on the subject of Christian persecution in Britain:
As far as the UK is concerned Christians are rarely ‘persecuted’ ,and direct comparisons should be avoided. What is happening in Western Europe is not persecution but a marginalising of faith which seeks to portray it as a matter of personal conscience only. Some examples of this originate from a mistaken but well-meant political correctness that is anxious not to upset minority faiths by seeming to ‘privilege’ Christianity. Hence the regular ‘pantomime’ every Christmas where some local Council or another absurdly gives Christmas another name.
The Guardian told us some time ago that "Everyone from the Archbishop of York downwards seems to be claiming that Christians in this country are being persecuted", but when we follow the links we find that the Archbishop of York didn't say that at all. In fact, he was arguing against "intolerance and illiberality", which is quite a different thing.
Now Mouse is sure that someone somewhere has used the word "persecution" in this context. But lets be clear. That is not what Lord Carey has claimed. It is not what Not Ashamed have claimed. It is not what John Sentamu claimed.
If we're going to attack the Not Ashamed campaign, then let's do it on the basis of what they have actually said.
Here's a sample of the coverage yesterday of the Not Ashamed campaign:
New Humanist don't like Lord Carey, but do like Nick Baines
Ed West, Telegraph
Christopher Howse, Telegraph
eChurch Christian blog don't like the song
Wednesday, 1 December 2010
Churches estimate £1.5-2bn contribution to society through volunteering and giving
Mouse noted this news a few days ago, but was rather sceptical of the numbers. Now he has had a chance to reflect, so will offer up some thoughts.
The estimates of church contributions to society were made by a group of 40 church leaders who gathered to discuss how the churches can contribute to Big Dave's Big Society. The network is now developing, and goes under the name The Cinnamon Network. One of the initiatives was to try to estimate the contribution churches already make under what could be called the big society. They initiated a survey, contacting thousands of churches, with 284 responding.
This was the main point which gave Mouse cause for concern. The methodology used to estimate was to take the responses and extrapolate them across all churches. However, it seems to Mouse that those who did respond were likely to be the ones most committed to various kinds of social action, so the sample is self selecting and not necessarily representative. Nevertheless, let's continue with the story.
The Churches in the sample estimated they delivered 439,000 hours of volunteer service in the last 12 months. That is an average of 1925 hours per Church. When this was extrapolated, and adjusted to take out small churches, it was estimated that the total contribution was 52m hours service per annum for England and 72m for the UK as a whole.
The Churches in the sample estimated they contributed £1,234,000 to finance social action initiatives. That is an average of £7,568 per Church spent on an average of 3.3 initiatives. Extrapolating that for England got to £224m per annum.
Once all of the financial and non-financial contributions were totted up, the group estimated that between £1.5bn and £2bn was being given by churches.
Now Mouse has already said that he sees some potential bias in the numbers, but nevertheless it is probably the best estimation that is available. Even if it is over the top by, say 20 or 30% it still shows a huge contribution.
Make of that what you will.
The estimates of church contributions to society were made by a group of 40 church leaders who gathered to discuss how the churches can contribute to Big Dave's Big Society. The network is now developing, and goes under the name The Cinnamon Network. One of the initiatives was to try to estimate the contribution churches already make under what could be called the big society. They initiated a survey, contacting thousands of churches, with 284 responding.
This was the main point which gave Mouse cause for concern. The methodology used to estimate was to take the responses and extrapolate them across all churches. However, it seems to Mouse that those who did respond were likely to be the ones most committed to various kinds of social action, so the sample is self selecting and not necessarily representative. Nevertheless, let's continue with the story.
The Churches in the sample estimated they delivered 439,000 hours of volunteer service in the last 12 months. That is an average of 1925 hours per Church. When this was extrapolated, and adjusted to take out small churches, it was estimated that the total contribution was 52m hours service per annum for England and 72m for the UK as a whole.
The Churches in the sample estimated they contributed £1,234,000 to finance social action initiatives. That is an average of £7,568 per Church spent on an average of 3.3 initiatives. Extrapolating that for England got to £224m per annum.
Once all of the financial and non-financial contributions were totted up, the group estimated that between £1.5bn and £2bn was being given by churches.
Now Mouse has already said that he sees some potential bias in the numbers, but nevertheless it is probably the best estimation that is available. Even if it is over the top by, say 20 or 30% it still shows a huge contribution.
Make of that what you will.
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